Surreptitious
by Silindro
Summary: Oneshot. After a night of scandalous actions they just weren't careful enough to not get caught. Spock x Uhura


Note: This story seems a bit farfetched and out of character to me. You may also be critical of my over-attentiveness to the smallest wardrobe details in this story, but take it for what it's worth. Also, I have no idea what Gaila's focus is, so let's just shove her into the class too. I needed a third person. Is also not proof read haha. It's gonna help the story flow better if you don't question me.

Standard disclaimers apply.

**Surreptitious ---**

"What's that?"

Uhura looked back at her roommate in the mirror. The Orion native was standing near the closet with her uniform skirt hanging loosely on her hips. The green-skinned woman was giving her a curious you-owe-me-details look on her face.

"What are you talking about?"

"That," Gaila said, pointing to the mirror.

Uhura turned around, hoping that following her roommate's gaze straight from the source might clarify what it was she was asking. She quickly realized that Gaila was pointing directly at her and not some foreign object in the mirror.

"_This_," Gaila said, coming up to point directly at the spot where Uhura's shoulder turned into her neck.

Uhura turned around and gave her reflection a good once-over. She was morbidly embarrassed to find a very distinctive purplish discoloration that marred her skin. Immediately she fixed her hair to hide the mark, hoping to pass it off as nothing more than 'one of those things'.

"Must have burned myself with your curling iron," she explained.

"That is such a lie," Gaila said. She reached over to push Uhura's black hair out of the way. She spun her roommate around and gave her shoulder a better look. "That is a _bite_ mark!"

A light blush reached Uhura's cheeks at Gaila's exclamation. She knew what it was just as well as her roommate did. And even worse, she knew that her roommate would be expecting an explanation about its origin. She knew it was absolutely imperative that the identity of the biter remained completely undisclosed.

"There's nothing to tell," she sighed. "It was a one-time thing."

"I don't believe you. Of all the people I know, you're the least likely to let some guy put his hands – or mouth – on you, especially for a one night stand."

Uhura frowned. She couldn't disagree with her friend because the implications would tarnish her reputation as hard-to-get. She didn't care for men fawning over her like some helpless woman. If she lied and told Gaila that yes, she _was_ capable of hopping into bed with random men, there was no doubt that the woman would spread the word all over campus for every testosterone-laced male ego to hear.

So instead, she walked over to the closet where her high-necked red uniform shirt was hanging. She pulled it over her head, effectively concealing the mark in question.

"What were we talking about, again?"

"Oh come _on_," Gaila growled. "Are you seriously going to brush me off like that?"

"I sure am." She gave her hair a quick brush and checked out her reflection once more in the mirror.

"If you think you're being conspicuous you've got another thing coming," she said. "It's the middle of summer and you're wearing your winter top. Other people are going to notice."

"I'll see you in class," Uhura grinned as she grabbed her books and walked out the door.

---

Just as Gaila anticipated, people were giving odd looks to the woman in the turtle-necked shirt. It was hot as hell and the fine layer of sweat affirmed the fact that Uhura was extremely overheated under the thick cotton. Some part of her wondered if she had made the best decision in choosing the quick way out of the situation rather than just slapping on some cover-up before walking out the door.

Hindsight was twenty-twenty.

Her third class of the day was both a relief and something that she had been dreading since she had left the dorm that morning. It was her Advanced Syntax focus class with Commander Spock. As much as she enjoyed listening to him lecture, she wasn't sure that she could sit through his instruction with the knowledge of what was under her collar.

Although she knew it was completely concealed, part of her wondered if he was aware of the damage he had caused. Would he see her and remember? Would she see him and relive the previous night with undisguised appreciation?

Her seat in the front row was waiting for her when she arrived, as it typically was in every class. She sat down and began to flip through her datapad for the appropriate notes for class. During this time other cadets began filling the room, taking their own seats around her. She could feel their curious eyes on her back.

Gaila came in last, taking her usual seat next to her friend. She too gave a curious look, but Uhura shook her head to say, "Not telling." The frustrated sigh next to her was expected.

Two seconds from the top of the hour their Vulcan instructor entered the room, keeping a brisk pace all the way to the lectern. Uhura looked up just in time to meet his eyes and return the silent greeting that she knew he was sending her way.

"_You have got to be kidding me_," Gaila whispered fiercely next to her.

Uhura looked over at her friend, wondering what she was going on about now. The wide-eyed stare was oddly unnerving. And as class had begun, she couldn't ask what had her in such a panic. She could only look back at Spock and take a guess. A _good_ guess.

He looked unusually uncomfortable standing in front of his class. The pale-skinned man kept his head down at the datapad in front of him, as if averting his eyes from the students would help hide the blemish on his neck that matched the one on her own. Whereas she had the chance to conceal hers, the Vulcan had no hope of masking the reddish marks just under the curve of his jaw line.

If it were a lesser class she knew that there would be whispers and speculations audibly passing through the class. She was thankful that the advanced cadets had more respect for their professor than that.

Of course there was Gaila, who had a message composed and sent and sitting there unread for Uhura. She opened it with an annoyed sigh.

_Is that your handiwork?_

She closed the message as quickly as she had opened it. Paranoia at the knowledge that someone knew made her nervous. No one was supposed to know. No one.

An hour later she had another message waiting for her as she began packing her things.

_Meet me in my office_.

Tingles of anticipation swept through her body. She looked around to make sure no one else noticed the message before tucking away the datapad and leaving the classroom with the rest of the cadets. She could feel his eyes following her all the way to the door.

---

"You looked uncomfortable during my lecture," he said as he closed the door behind him.

She was sitting in his chair, swaying back and forth with her hands resting at ease on his desk. While her posture seemed relaxed, her face was quite serious. The frown on her face puzzled Spock.

"Is everything all right?"

"I think Gaila knows," she stated without pretense.

"Are you certain of this?"

"Yes, she's got all the facts she needs to figure out that something's definitely up. She also sent me this in class."

Spock walked over to the desk where Uhura held out the datapad for him to see. He took the proffered instrument and read over the short sentence that had been sent earlier during the beginning of the lecture. He frowned.

"This is problematic," he said after a few thoughtful moments.

"That's putting it mildly," she replied. "You know what this could mean if the Board finds out. They'll crucify you."

He nodded in response. "That is highly plausible."

"What are you going to do about it?" she asked with a touch of fear in her voice. The most obvious solution to the problem was to drop their relationship and save themselves the trouble. Secrecy did not suit the Vulcan, and it was not in his nature to lie when questioned. She wouldn't ask him to do that.

It was obvious that he sensed the apprehension in her words. He set the datapad down on the desk and came around to kneel in front of her. His hands reached out for hers.

"I understand your concerns."

"That isn't an answer."

"Every day we must make choices that affect our lives for both the positive and the negative. Although ridding my life of the risk of occupational ruin would be a logical course of action, discarding something important to me for this reason would be personally catastrophic."

"What are you saying."

"I will not let you go."

She was out of the chair and into his arms before the last word had left his mouth. Her crushing embrace was a welcome feeling, and one that he returned to the best of his ability given the awkward nature of their position kneeling on the floor.

"Can this work?" she asked into his neck.

"To what are you referring?"

"Us. Can we really make this work?"

He was quiet for a moment as he thought over the words that he needed to say. During that time he showed a small measure of physical affection by massaging the back of her neck idly with his free hand. This motion seemed to calm her a bit.

"I am willing to try."

He felt her lips on his skin, kissing the same marks that she had left the night before. This time her motions were less frantic as she worked her way to his lips, kissing him in a way that conveyed the words she could not find. Her body pressed against his, pushing him down onto the floor. She straddled his hips in a provocative way, very inappropriate for his unlocked office.

"I believe actions similar to these are the cause of our current predicament," he said between kisses.

"I don't see you stopping me," she grinned.

A knock on the door shattered the stolen moment. From the other side they could hear the muffled voice of a female student asking for a moment of Spock's time. It was a familiar voice, and Uhura had a sneaking suspicion she knew exactly who it was making the interruption.

"Invite her in," Uhura said as she sat back, hiding herself under the desk.

Spock nodded as he stood, seating himself in his chair. He made it a point to scatter several documents on his desk in an attempt to make it look like he had been working.

"Come in," he called.

The door opened halfway and a green-skinned woman poked her head around the door tepidly. Gaila's eyes scanned the room first before she stepped inside.

"How may I be of assistance?"

"I had a question about the essay assignment from last week's…" Her voice trailed off as she stared at a very out of place object on the desk.

"…yes?"

"Isn't that Uhura's datapad?" she asked as she reached over to pick the familiar item up off of the desk. The background picture on the main screen was a shot from a party they had attended a year before.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Spock agreed.

Under the desk Uhura's heart began to race.

"Commander, what's going on?"

"I am not sure what you mean," he replied.

"Is she here?"

"Who?"

"Uhura," Gaila answered. "Where is she?"

Uhura knew that Spock would not lie when presented with a question. The hesitation in his answers told her that he was debating leaving the question open-ended. Failing to speak would tell Gaila a number of things that were better off addressed in a closed conversation.

"Can't you leave things alone?" Uhura asked as she crawled out from underneath the desk.

Her friend gave a smug, knowing look.

"I'm serious, this isn't a game."

"How long has this been going on?"

"A while," Uhura confessed. "Gaila, you can't say anything."

"My lips are sealed," she said with a nod.

"There is a high potential for academic and professional suspension should word leave this room," Spock affirmed.

Gaila stared back at her friend and her professor with emotion that she wasn't sure she completely understood. She was sympathetic toward her friend's plight, but at the same time she didn't know if she was completely comfortable knowing that her friend was having a fling with a person directly responsible for the scores that defined her Starfleet academic record.

"Gaila, please," Uhura pleaded.

She was quiet for a moment as she regarded the two people in front of her.

"I didn't see anything," she finally answered.

"Thank you."

Once Gaila was gone, Uhura let out a deep sigh of relief. She felt Spock's hand on her arm, pulling her back into reality.

"We cannot allow any room for error," he said. "Will she keep her word?"

"I don't know. You may be getting yourself in over your head. Maybe we both are."

"Risk is a part of life."

She nodded to that statement, completely in agreement. She had a lot to learn about life in Starfleet and life in general. But for that moment in time she would have to live with the things that she already knew and nothing more than that. She would take her experiences and build on them with the Vulcan next to her.

They both had everything to lose and also everything to gain.

**Fin** ---

Note: This is not my favorite story, but I just didn't know how to finish it any other way. Next one will be better.

As always, thank you for your continued readership of this pointless little fanfiction world in which I live. Your overwhelming response to my stories is completely and totally flattering. I enjoy your praise and take seriously into consideration your critiques. You all help make me a better writer. So again, thank you.

_**It's a fanfiction sin to read, favorite, or alert without reviewing. I know who you all are.**_


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